June 01, 2015

An Omnichannel Quiz

Question #1: You mail a catalog. The customers driven into the store by the catalog are fundamentally different than the core customer who shops in the store. Do you ....

A) Align the catalog with the retail assortment, and reduce catalog productivity.

B) Change the retail assortment to match what the catalog customer prefers to purchase.

C) Let the business evolve naturally.

Question #2: Your retail business is so good and the experience is so compelling that your e-commerce business only comprises 7% of total net sales ... and ... customers within 50 miles of the store are simply unwilling to shop via e-commerce ... they go to the store. How would you treat your e-commerce marketing team?

A) You plan on firing them because they do such a poor job of driving e-commerce business.

B) You let the customer do whatever the customer wants, rewarding all employees on the basis of total sales.

Question #3: You have two email marketing campaigns per week ... on Monday, and on Friday. Which strategy would you employ?

A) The Monday campaign is designed to drive customers online, the Friday campaign is designed to drive customers into stores.

B) The campaigns are brand-centric, ignoring channels.

C) The campaigns are personalized, are customer-centric, based on the merchandise the customer purchases and the channels the customer buy from.

Question #4: Customers who buy from multiple channels ...

A) Are the best because of the channels you offer, and therefore, require businesses to be active in all channels.

B) Are the best simply because they buy often and, by default, touch many channels ... in the same way that people who like to eat out go to many restaurants.

C) Are the best because they love your merchandise assortment.

Question #5: Is it your belief that ...

A) You align your marketing, merchandising, and creative teams across channels, even if it means that the productivity in any one channel is lower, because you want all employees focusing on the core omnichannel customer.

B) You do not align your marketing, merchandising, and creative teams across channels, allowing each channel to achieve maximum sales potential.

C) Organizational structure is irrelevant ... smart people self-organizing and working well together matters most.

Question #6: If you were CEO at Macy's, and you were not happy with business performance (and you shouldn't be), who would you fire?

A) The omnichannel strategy team.

B) The merchandising leadership team.

C) The marketing team.

Question #7: If a business generates $1,000,000 of profit, annually, how much of the $1,000,000 is caused by a great omnichannel strategy, and how much of the $1,000,000 is generated by a great merchandising strategy?

A) More profit comes from omnichannel strategy than from your merchandising strategy.

B) Profit is about equal ... both contribute equally.

C) More profit comes from the merchandising strategy than from your omnichannel strategy.

Now, count how many times you answered as follows below:

Question 1 = A.

Question 2 = B.

Question 3 = B.

Question 4 = A.

Question 5 = A.

Question 6 = B.

Question 7 = A.

If you gave the answers listed above in at least four of the seven cases, then you are an ardent omnichannel advocate.

If you gave the answers listed above in two or fewer of the seven cases, then you do not align with the omnichannel thesis.

How did you perform?

Why did you answer the questions the way you answered them? Do you have financial results to back up your answers? Discuss.

Kevin Hillstrom

Kevin Hillstrom, President, MineThatData

Kevin is President of MineThatData, a consultancy that helps CEOs understand the complex relationship between Customers, Advertising, Products, Brands, and Channels. Kevin supports a diverse set of clients, including internet startups, thirty million dollar catalog merchants, international brands, and billion dollar multichannel retailers. Kevin is frequently quoted in the mainstream media, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Forbes Magazine.

Prior to founding MineThatData, Kevin held various roles at leading multichannel brands, including Vice President of Database Marketing at Nordstrom, Director of Circulation at Eddie Bauer, and Manager of Analytical Services at Lands' End.

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